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E-commerce of Goods: Testing the European Single Market

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The Contribution of the Postal and Delivery Sector

Part of the book series: Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy ((TREP))

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Abstract

E-commerce has become a major marketplace that provides businesses and consumers new trade opportunities beyond their traditional geographic markets. In light of the European Digital Single Market (DSM), a relevant concern is the existence of several forms of geographic discrimination. Consumers as well as businesses are often faced with undue impediments to free and efficient cross-border transactions within the European Union (EU).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One can also identify e-commerce in a broader sense to include transactional activities, such as order, payment and delivery (Nikali et al. 2017). Increasingly, other transactional features are becoming indispensable to satisfy customer needs.

  2. 2.

    Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, Final report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry, Brussels, 10.5.2017 COM (2017) 229 final.

  3. 3.

    Although the area that most naturally accrues to e-commerce is that of Business-to-Consumer transactions (B2C), there are other types of trade that are generated through it: Business-to-Business (B2B), Customer-to-Customer (C2C), Customer-to-Business (C2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G).

  4. 4.

    Nikali et al. (2017) found evidence for this in Finland.

  5. 5.

    This dissatisfaction is the main engine behind the European Commission Communication “A comprehensive approach to stimulating cross-border e-Commerce for Europe’s citizens and businesses”, COM (2016) 320 final.

  6. 6.

    Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, Final report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry, Brussels, 10.5.2017 COM (2017) 229 final.

  7. 7.

    According to the Final Report on the E-commerce Sector Inquiry, 18% of retailers have reported that agreements with suppliers contain marketplace restrictions.

  8. 8.

    Respectively in the markets of consumer electronics, video games and hotel accommodation, http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-201_en.htm.

  9. 9.

    The competitive scenario is much more complex, with a host of different players: express operators, consolidators, brokers, and other minor players.

  10. 10.

    See for example the European Parcel Group initiative, composed of different national postal operators, which strives to create an integrated service and offers integrated track-and-trace systems.

  11. 11.

    Mystery shopping survey on territorial restrictions and geo-blocking in the European Digital Single Market (2016), conducted by GfK Belgium PS for the European Commission.

  12. 12.

    European Commission (2015). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions a Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, COM/2015/0192 final.

  13. 13.

    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on addressing geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC.

  14. 14.

    http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8610.

  15. 15.

    Vigilance against potential collusion is needed when competitor prices are easily available.

  16. 16.

    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cross-border parcel delivery services (2016).

  17. 17.

    Directive 2008/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services.

  18. 18.

    Directive 2015/2366/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC. The latter entered into force on 12 January 2016 and rules will apply from 13 January 2018 (deadline for transposition in national systems).

  19. 19.

    Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). The latter entered into force on 24 May 2016 and will apply from 25 May 2018.

  20. 20.

    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws.

  21. 21.

    See paragraph 1.3 of the Proposal.

  22. 22.

    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on addressing geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC.

  23. 23.

    https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/geo-blocking-digital-single-market (last access on 09/05/2017).

  24. 24.

    European Parliament and Council, Proposal for a Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services, 25.5.2016 COM (2016) 285 final.

  25. 25.

    Joint BEREC-ERGP Opinion (2015), Price transparency and regulatory oversight of cross-border parcels delivery, taking into account possible regulatory insights from the electronic communications sector.

  26. 26.

    European Parliament and Council, Proposal for a Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services, 25.5.2016 COM (2016) 285 final.

  27. 27.

    http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-2109_en.htm and http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=117250.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy

    Paula Gori & Virginia Silvestri

Authors
  1. Paula Gori
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  2. Virginia Silvestri
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European University Institute, RSCAS, Florence School of Regulation Communication & Media, Florence, Italy

    Pier Luigi Parcu

  2. School of Public Policy, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Timothy Brennan

  3. Rutgers Business School, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Victor Glass

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Gori, P., Silvestri, V. (2018). E-commerce of Goods: Testing the European Single Market. In: Parcu, P., Brennan, T., Glass, V. (eds) The Contribution of the Postal and Delivery Sector. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70672-6_10

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